Showing papers by "Ricardo A. Ramirez-Mendoza published in 2016"

Entropy measures to study and model long term simultaneous evolution of children in Doose and Lennox-Gastaut syndromes.

Abstract: Doose and Lennox-Gastaut (syndromes) are rare generalized electroclinical affections of early infancy of variable prognosis which manifest with very diverse kinds of seizures. Very frequently, these types of epilepsy become drug resistant and finding reliable treatment results is very difficult. As a result of this, fighting against these syndromes becomes a long term (or endless) event for the little patient, the neurologist and the parents. A lot of Electroencephalographic (EEG) records are so accumulated during the child's life in order to monitor evolution and correlate it with medications. So, given a bunch of EEG, three questions arise: (a) On which year was the child healthier (less affected by seizures)? (b) Which area of the brain has been the most affected? (c) What is the status of the child with respect to others (which also have a bunch of EEG, each)? Answering these interrogations by traditional scrutinizing of the whole database becomes subjective, if not impossible. We propose to answer these questions objectively by means of time series entropies. We start with our modified version of the Multiscale Entropy (MSE) in order to generalize it as a Bivariate MSE (BMSE) and from them, we compute two indices. All were tested in a series of patients and coincide with medical conclusions. As far as we are concerned, our contribution is new.

A New Approach for Estimating Noise Emission of Automotive Vehicles

Abstract: Current systems for measuring traffic noise are based on an overall assessment, so that they are unable to discriminate between type of vehicle and noise propagation. In this work we propose a near-field noise measuring method that is able to measure the contribution of each vehicle to the road traffic noise, allowing the characterization and quantification of different types of vehicles. This paper also describes a combination of analytical and experimental investigations for a methodology to carry out noise analysis for automotive vehicles. The system is based on two on-board microphones, one for the engine noise and the other for the rolling noise. In order to relate these near-field (0–0.1m from the source) measurements with the noise radiated from the vehicle to the far-field (at 7.5m from the source), a complete procedure was developed for the extrapolation of the near-field noise to the far-field positions with a combination of analytical models. Corrections for the extrapolated levels were made taking into account atmospheric factors, the spherical spreading term and the absorbing conditions of the propagation on the surface. For the microphone situated close to the engine it was also necessary to estimate the acoustic properties of the engine hood. Both noise levels were extrapolated independently of the far-field position, for which a noise level was predicted in order to estimate the remote noise impact to the overall traffic noise.

Emotional Domotics: Inhabitable Home Automation System for Emotion Modulation Through Facial Analysis

Abstract: This research proposed working with an influence on the subject mood, presenting an approach to state the subjects analysis when the light hue is varied. The experimental results led to the finding of the emotional response time dynamics. Such dynamics are important for future design and implementation of the control loops in-house automation systems for emotion modulation. Throughout this document, the details and progress of the research in emotional domotics, with the aim of developing a controlled algorithm for living space based on the user’s emotional state, will be illustrated and detailed. This project is centered on domotics (home automation) systems, which is, a set of elements installed, interconnected and controlled by a computer system. After introducing the investigation’s core, general preview, and the experiment’s description conducted with light hue variation, the description is followed by a presentative approach to state the subjects analysis when light hue is varied. The experimental results led to the time dynamics of emotional response findings. Such dynamics are important for future design and implementation of the control loops in house automation systems for emotion modulation.

User Experience May be Producing Greater Heart Rate Variability than Motor Imagery Related Control Tasks during the User-System Adaptation in Brain-Computer Interfaces.

Abstract: Brain-computer interface (BCI) is technology that is developing fast, but it remains inaccurate, unreliable and slow due to the difficulty to obtain precise information from the brain. Consequently, the involvement of other biosignals to decode the user control tasks has risen in importance. A traditional way to operate a BCI system is via motor imagery (MI) tasks. As imaginary movements activate similar cortical structures and vegetative mechanisms as a voluntary movement does, heart rate variability (HRV) has been proposed as a parameter to improve the detection of MI related control tasks. However, HR is very susceptible to body needs and environmental demands, and as BCI systems require high levels of attention, perceptual processing and mental workload, it is important to assess the practical effectiveness of HRV. The present study aimed to determine if brain and heart electrical signals (HRV) are modulated by MI activity used to control a BCI system, or if HRV is modulated by the user perceptions and responses that result from the operation of a BCI system (i.e., user experience). For this purpose, a database of eleven participants who were exposed to eight different situations was used. The sensory-cognitive load (intake and rejection tasks) was controlled in those situations. Two electrophysiological signals were utilized: electroencephalography and electrocardiography. From those biosignals, event-related (de-) synchronization maps and event-related HR changes were respectively estimated. The maps and the HR changes were cross-correlated in order to verify if both biosignals were modulated due to MI activity. The results suggest that HR varies according to the experience undergone by the user in a BCI working environment, and not because of the MI activity used to operate the system.

Chassis Control based on Fuzzy Logic

Abstract: Based on a Global Chassis Control system with three-layers architecture (decision, control, and physical layers) a Fuzzy Logic (FL) approach is exploited. The FL based decision layer identifies the current driving condition of the vehicle and decides the control strategy to take care of this driving condition. A confusion matrix validates the classification results. The control strategy is implemented through the subsystems (suspension, steering, and braking) at the FL based control layer. The strategy was evaluated under two different tests: slalom and double line change by comparing the performance with an UnControlled system. Early results show the proposed strategy has less roll, yaw movement and side slip angle than an UnControlled system during a double line change maneuver; also, for the slalom test the proposal improves the dynamic vehicle performance allowing the driver to maintain the vehicle under control.

Emotional Domotics: Inhabitable Space Variable Control for the Emotions Modulation

Abstract: Throughout this document the details and progress of the research in emotional domotics, whose ultimate goal is the development of a controlled algorithm for living spaces based on the emotional state of the user, will be illustrated and detailed. The first section details the motivations and objectives of the project. The second section gives a brief introduction about what is domotics and emotional interpretation through the facial analysis. The third section details the direction and current progress of this research. Later in section four, the background and models that have influenced the project are detailed. Sections five and six detail the procedures and results of the first experiment conducted during the investigation. Finally, in section seven we will close with the conclusions currently achieved and a brief introduction to the future work are showed.

Mathematical Model and Intelligent Control of a Quadcopter, with Non-conventional Membership Functions

Abstract: This paper shows detailed steps for modeling a quadcopter with Euler-Lagrange equations, followed by controlling it with intelligent control that includes states decoupling. In addition, this control shows non-conventional membership functions for the most instable states, in order to get a fast and effective response.

LPV control for a semi-active suspension quarter of car-one parameter case

Abstract: The actual semi-active suspension control systems with a balance between comfort and road holding goals are not optimal because in these solutions one goal or the other always dominates in the suspension performance. This paper is centered in a new proposal to control an automotive semi-active suspension to achieve the comfort and maintain the road holding.The output in the control strategy is the electric current. A nonlinear quarter of vehicle model simulation compares and validates the proposal versus different controllers. The controller is designed with the H∞ criteria and the Linear Varying Parameter (LPV) considering the saturation and sigmoid shape of the F-V characteristic diagram. Unlike the solutions in literature, which use at least two scheduling parameters, the proposed LPV controller scheme for a semi-active suspension uses only one scheduling parameter.